Interlocking ingot

ABSTRACT

THE DISCLOSURE TEACHES AN INTERLOCKING INGOT WITH A BASE PORTION HAVING AT LEAST ONE CAVITY THEREIN AND A PLURALITY OF DISCRETE NIBS THEREON AND WITH A TOP PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF CONCAVE PORTIONS THEREIN TO RECEIVE NIBS FROM ANOTHER LIKE INGOT TO FORM A MECHANICAL INTERLOCK THEREWITH.

June 20, 1972 A. J. FOLEY ETAL 3,671,204 I INTERLOCKING meow 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed April 9, 1968 INVENTORS N J FOLEY ALA MAD/SON J GARDNER BY fill/W ATTORNEY v June 20, 1972 J, FQLEY ET AL 3,671,204

INTERLOCKING INGOT Original Fil ed April 9, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. ALA N J. FOLEY MAD/SON J GARDNER BY 2417 31/ g ATTORNEY June 20, 1972 A. J. FOLEY m. 3,671,204

INTERLOCKING INGOT Original FiledApril 9, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 5a 5.4 INVENTORS =EQQ% ALAN J. FOLEY MAD/SON J. GARDNER FIG-8A BY ATTORNEY United States Patent Otfice 3,671,204 Patented June 20, 1972 3,671,204 I INTERLOCKING INGOT Alan J. Foley, Athen, and Madison J. Gardner, Rinard Mills, Ohio, assignors to Ormet Corporation Original application Apr. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 719,925, now Patent No. 3,498,451, dated Mar. 3, 1970. Divided and this application Apr. 21, 1969, Ser. No. 839,115

Int. Cl. B22d 25/02 US. Cl. 29-187 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure teaches an interlocking ingot with a base portion having at least one cavity therein and a plurality of discrete nibs thereon and with a top portion having a plurality of concave portions therein to receive nibs from another like ingot to form a mechanical interlock therewith.

This application is a division of copending application Ser. No, 719,925, filed Apr. 9, 1968, now U.S. Patent No. 3,498,451.

The present invention relates to stacking ingots, molds for casting them, and packages of the resulting ingots.

In the metals industry, it is necessary to provide ingots in a size which can be used by a variety of processers. Some processers use the ingots to alloy with other materials; for example, aluminum is commonly used as a de oxidizing agent in steel. Other processers desire to produce small heats of, for instance, 30 to 100 pounds of metal. Others desire to make heats as large as 10,000 to 100,000 pounds.

Thus, there is a problem in how to produce ingots which can serve the needs of all these customers. It is'not desirable or practical to make specific shapes for each customer, but, rather, it is more economical and practical to cast one ingot size which can be used by all customers.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a stacking ingot which can be used by customersfor a wide variety of uses in the metals industry.

It is another object of the present invention to provide ingots which can be easily and simply packaged.

It is another object of the-present invention to' provide a mold for casting the previously described stacking ingots.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of transferring andtransporting ingots from place to place.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the mold to be used according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the lines 2--2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the lines 33 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the lines.44 in FIG. 1. 1

FIG. 5 is a perspective bottom view of the ingots of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective top view of the ingots of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a package of ingots according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an end view of a package of ingots according to the present invention.

FIG. 8A is an enlarged sectional view of a method of sealing the straps in the package of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view of another package according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the package according to FIG. 9.

The mold of the present invention may be made of iron or steel, for example, mechanite, ductile steel, nodular iron, cast iron, cast steel or heat treated steel.

The molds of the present invention are generally, although not necessarily, used in a continued manner. For example, a coating wheel containing a large number of molds at its circumference may be provided in which the casting wheel moves the molds one by one past a casting ladle. Alternately, the molds may be attached to an inline casting machine in which the molds are again moved past the casting ladle. However, for some applications, it may be desirable to make single castings or a small number (e.g., 10) using hand ladies, with the mold of the present invention.

Considering the mold in detail in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mold is shown generally at 10. An opening 11 is provided at each'e'nd of the mold for means for continuously passing the mold past a casting ladle; for example, a nut and bolt could be provided in opening 11 for attachment to an in-line casting machine, casting wheel, or to a bench in which a ladle or pouring spout would move rather than the molds.

The mold is composed of end walls 16, side walls 17, and a bottom 13. Periodically along the bottom of the mold, a plurality of dividers 15 are provided. These dividers divide the mold into portions 26, 27, 28 and 29. The number of chambers can vary as desired; however, for covenience, four have been illustrated as an example.

Within each of these chambers, at least two depressions 18 are provided. These depressions, for example, may be made on a 4 to A-inch, preferably a /2-inch, radius with a tolerance of 1 1 inch. The purpose of these depressions will be described hereinafter.

Furthermore, the mold has a top 20 which is provided at each end with a protrusion 12 for strapping purposes, as will be described hereinaftenThe top of this strapping indentation is preferably from ,4; to inch and may be /2 to 2 /2 inches wide. This is shown at 12A. The bottom of the strapping indentation, 12B, is, for example, made of /2 to 3inch radius with a tolerance of i fi inch.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the mold is provided with a marker indentation 21 which indicates the approximate height for casting a 30-pound ingot. At the other end of the mold, second marker indentation 22 is provided for casting an approximate 50-pound ingot as shown in FIG. 4. Obviously, such marker indentations can be provided in any convenient number, or can be omitted, if desired.

The mold is particularly adapted for casting aluminum alloys. Any of the alloys of the lXXX, 2XXX, 3XXX, 4XXX, SXXX, 6XXX, 7XXX and 8XXX Aluminum Association series of wrought alloys may be effectively cast in this mold. However, the present invention is particularr ly adapted to be practiced on aluminum casting alloys having the following SAE Numbers, for example: 33-35, 38, 39, 300, 303-306, 308-315, 320-324, 326, 327, 329, 332, and 380.

If desired, deoxidizing agents and alloy elements may be added either prior to pouring, or during the filling of the mold. As the mold moves past the casting station, the operator allows the mold to fill and observes the indentation 21 or 22, depending upon the size of the casting to be produced, and when the level of molten metal reaches this height, the mold is moved from beneath the ladle. This may be done in some instances automatically. Obviously, if a batch casting is being made, this would be done by an operator. p

The castings are permitted to solidify without special treatment, as a general rule; however, for specific alloys, cooling schedules may be provided as desired by those skilled in the art. After the castings have been allowed to solidify, at least to the extent of forming a solidified shell throughout the casting, they are preferably externally struck by mechanical action to permit removal of the castings when they are cool. This mechanical action is preferably done when the casting has been totally solidified, but this is not essential. For example, the mold can be mounted with one end hinged. Then when the mold turns over, the non-hinged end swings down and hits a stop which causes the ingot to be knocked out of the mold.

The resulting ingots are shown in FIGS. and 6. The ingots 30 are generally comprised of four parts corresponding to the number of mold dividers 15 (FIG. 1). Obviously, the number of discrete sections of the casting will depend upon the number of dividers. However, in all cases, the castings will have a bottom 31, ends 33 and sides 32 which slope upwardly to the top 40.

Provided in each of the ends 33 is a strapping indentation illustrated generally at 34. This strapping indentation comprises a bottom portion 35 which will penetrate into the metal approximately A inch to V2 inch resulting from the /2 to 3-inch radius 123 (FIG. 1) provided in the mold. The strapping indentation also has an upper portion 36 which results from the protrusion portion 12A on the mold. The thickness of the indentation will be from A; to ,4 inch.

The discrete sections 41-44 are defined by means of cavities 37 resulting from dividers 15 in the mold. These cavities comprise top portions 38A at the juncture of sloping side walls 38B.

Additionally, each of the discrete sections 41-44 contains at least two nibs 39 resulting from mold depressions 18. These nibs are, for example, approximately on a A to %-inch radius; preferably an approximate /z-inch radius is used and the depression is preferably approximately inch deep.

Turning to FIG. 6 which illustrates the top of the mold, it will be apparent that during solidification, the bottom 21, the sides 32, ends 33 and the portions above cavities 37 will solidfy first. Thus, the entire top is slightly concave. Due to shrinkage, there will result center portions 41A, 42A, 43A and 44A in each of the discrete sections. The top surface of these discrete sections is concave with respect to the rest of the mold.

FIG. 6 also shows the upper portion of the strapping indentation 36 on end sections 41 and 44.

An equally important feature of the present invention is the package of ingots used for shipping.

As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the package 50, for approximately 30-pound ingots, comprises runner ingots 51 and 52. These runner ingots are necessary so that handling equipment, such as cranes, for lift trucks, etc., can easily lift the package. s v

Resting on the runner ingots 51 and 52 are ingots 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57. However, as is apparent from a consideration of FIGS. 7 and 8, the ingots 53-57 are placed 90 with respect to ingots 51 and 52. Thus, as can be .seen from FIG. 8, theiingots 51 and 52 extend underneath the entire package, whereas ingots 53-57 rest upon them. Ingot 53 has nibs 39 down; the nibs are up in ingot 54; down in 55, etc. The ingots are alternated on a layer-bylayer basis. Thus, ingots 60-64 are placed with respect to ingots 53-57 and are alternated as to whether the nibs 39 are up or down.

Throughout numbered layers 1-15, this alternating pattern is maintained, including the top row (numbered row 15) and ingots 70-74. However, it is preferable that in row 1, end ingots 53 and 57 be placed downward to allow strap 8-2 to engage cavity 37. Likewise, at the top end ingots 70 and 74 should be placed with the nibs up to allow for passage of straps 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3 therethrough. i

The ingots are held in place and to each other by means of 'these straps. As is apparent from FIG. 7, straps S-l andjS-3 pass under the ru'nner ingots 51 and 52 and slot 34 and the nibs 39 prevent any tendency for these straps to slip out. The straps are also prevented from moving at the top due to the placement into the cavities 37 in end ingots 70 and 74. Strap 8-2, on the other hand, while passing into cavity 37 at the top in ingots 70 and 74 does not engage the runner ingot but rather passes into the cavity of the bottom ingots 53, 55 and 57. However, if desired, end ingots 70 and 74 and ingot 53 may rely on the nibs instead of the cavities to hold the straps in place. I

In addition to the action of the straps, the ingots are additionally held in place by the cooperative action of the nibs 39 within the cavities 41-44. As mentioned previously, the ingot top 40 is concave due to shrinkage; thus, this concave shape provides a mechanical interlock and prevents the nibs 30 from sliding as'they rest upon the surface 40 of the ingots above and below.

' The straps S-1,'S-2 and 8-3 are crimp sealed, as illustrated in FIG. 8A. Overlapping of the individual straps S-a and S-b is provided and then a steel member S-t (called a strapping seal) is placed around the overlapping section and is crimped to hold the overlapping strap portions S-a and S-b in place.

' During'movement 'of the package, a friction or 'pres sure weld between the nibs and the concave surface is sometimes observed, which, in addition to the mechanical interlock, accounts for the absence of ingots slipping from the package.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 which is particularly adapted to larger ingots, for example, of the approximate SU -pound variety.

The embodiment in FIGS. 9 and 10 differs from that shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 only in minor respects. Again, runner ingots 151 and 152 are placed on the floor first. The space between them allows a fork lift truck or other handling equipment to pick up the package. As shown in FIG. 10, ingots 153-157 are placed on the runner ingots 90 with respect to the direction of the runner ingots. 'Ingots -164 are then placed 90 with rwpect to the ingots 153-157 and parallel to runner ingots 151 and 152. All the ingots have nibs 39 and cavities 37.

As is apparent from FIG. 9, straps S-1 and 8-3 pass below runner ingots 151 and 152 and are held in place by nibs 39. However, strap 8-2 is placed under ingots 153-157 at the bottom. At the top,.straps 8-1 and 8-3 pass between the nibs 39 on ingots and 174. The straps are held together in the manner shown in FIG. 8A as described in regard to the 30-pound ingot size.

However, it is apparent that there are some differences. Obviously, the S0-pound ingots are thicker than the 30- pound ingots, because the molten metal was poured into the mold up to the level 22 instead of 21. Also, only nine ingot rows are included ina package as contrasted with fifteen in the 30-pound size (the runner ingots are not counted as rows).

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the minimum thickness of the ingots must be at least 2 inches so that fork lift trucks and other handling equipment can readily pick up the package. The maximum thickness of the ingots is limited only by the weight of ingots desired and the size of the mold. 1 t

The length of the ingots may be limited by the size of machines used to continually pass molds for the ingots past a pouring station. For example, an in-line casting machine has certain length requirements in this regard. The minimum, on the other hand, depends on the weight desired and, to some extent, the shape. In other words, the minimum depends on the height/width/length ratio desired for a particular weight of ingot.

The width, again, may be limited by mold transfer equipment such as in-line casting machines. The minimum depends on the weight of the ingot desired and also on the ratio of width to length desired. Preferably, five widths equal one length of the ingots of the present invention.

The cavities 37 of the ingots of the present invention are provided for the following reason: they provide a place for straps to hold the ingots within a package; they also provide a place for breaking the ingots up in the event that multiples of the total ingot weight are desired, for example, as an alloying or deoxidation addition. For instance, a 30-pound ingot can be broken at either of the notches near the end and an approximate 7 to 7 .S-pound addition is obtained. Breaking the ingot in the center will result in two approximate 15-pound additions. The cavities 37 also function as a weight equalizer. In other words, these cavities allow the molds to be longer or wider or thicker than they would be in the absence of such cavities. Additionally, these cavities provide more surface area which results in more rapid melting.

Finally, and most important, the nibs are spaced so as to optimize the possibility that the nibs will ride in the concave area of the ingots in the lower or upper row for all sizes in a single mold.

The size of the nibs must be such that they are deep enough to ride in the concave area and are deep enough to hold the straps in place used in the packages of the present invention. As mentioned previously, a size of A to %-inch radius has been found to be satisfactory in this regard.

The following examples illustrate the invention, but are not intended to limit its scope:

EXAMPLE I Molten aluminum casting alloy No. 356 was prepared in a holding furnace. Six molds were attached to an inline casting machine. The molds were of the type shown in FIGS. 1-4 and were made of ductile iron.

As the molds were passed by the ladle attached to the holding furnace, approximately 30 pounds of metal were poured into the molds up to the level shown by the indentation 21 in FIG. 4 for the 30-pound level in the molds. The molds were water cooled and then the ingots were permitted to solidify and were than given a hammer blow to loosen the ingots from the mold.

The approximate dimensions of the resulting ingots were as follows: the ingots were approximately 30 inches long, 2% inches high from the casting base, and 2 /2 inches from the bottom of the nibs to the top of the casting. The ingots were approximately 6 inches wide at the top and inches wide at the bottom. On the longitudinal dimension, eight nibs were located 4- /2 and 9 /2 inches in from each end of the ingots (measured from the top) and 1 /2 inches in from the largest width dimension. The nibs were inch high on a /z-inch radius. The ingots contained three cavities in the bottom. The center apex was 15 inches in from either and while the apex of the other two was 7 /2 inches from the center apex.

The ingots were then packaged according to the basic design illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. A total of 77 ingots were packaged, including two runner ingots. Each row contained five ingots. The ingots were alternated with nibs up, nibs down, nibs up, etc., and were staggered in each row. Steel straps 8-1, 8-2 and 8-3 were attached and crimped as shown in FIG. 8A after 16 hours of cooling.

A total of four packages were so packaged. The approximate size of the packages was 40" x 30''x 30''. Two such packages were shipped to Chicago, 111. by truck.

None of the ingots slipped out of the packages during the handling, including loading, unloading and storage.

EXAMPLE H Four ductile iron molds of the type shown in FIGS. l-4 of the drawings were attached to an in-line casting machine.

As the molds passed by the ladle attached to the holding furnace, approximately 50 pounds of Aluminum Association Alloy 2370 were poured into the molds up to the level shown by the indentation 22 for the 50-pound level in the molds. The molds were water cooled and then the ingots were permitted to solidify and were then given a hammer blow to loosen the ingots from the mold.

The approximate dimensions of the resulting ingots were as follows: the ingots were approximately 30 inches long, 6 /8 inches wide at the top and 4 inches at the bottom, 3 /2 inches from the base to the top of the casting and 3% inches from the nibs to the top of the casting. The center cavity apex was 15 inches from each end. The other two cavity apexes were 7 /2 inches from this center apex. The eight nibs were located 5 /2 and 9 /2 inches from the center apex, 1%. inches from the base width center.

The ingots were then packaged according to the basic design illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. A total of 47 ingots were packaged, including two ingots being used as runner ingots. Each row contained five ingots as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The ingots were alternated with nibs up, nibs down, nibs up, etc., and were staggered 90 in each row. Steel straps 8-1, 8-2 and 8-3 were attached and crimped after 16 hours of cooling.

A total of four packages were so packaged. The package size was approximately 37V2" x 30" x 30". The packages were shipped to Chicago, Ill. from Hannibal, Ohio by truck.

None of the ingots shippel out of the packages during the handling, including loading, unloading and storage.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrations described and shown herein which are deemed to be merely illustrative of the best modes of carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible of modifications of form, size, arrangement of parts and detail of operation, but rather is intended to encompass all such modifications which are within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ingot comprising: a base portion having at least one cavity therein and a plurality of discrete nibs on said base portion in a location separate and apart from said cavity, said ingot having side walls and end walls sloping upwardly and outwardly to a top portion which is opposite said base portion, said top portion having a surface having a plurality of concave portions therein, each said concave portion having a closed parametric boundary and constructed and arranged so as to receive and co-act with discrete nibs from the base portion of another like ingot when stacked in direct contact with said top portion of the first said ingot with the longitudinal axis of said first ingot being at about 90 to the longitudinal axis of said other like ingot so as to limit the movement of said ingots when in the stacked position.

2. An ingot according to claim 1 in which a plurality of cavities are provided in the base portion.

3. An ingot according to claim 2 in which said cavities extend across the entire transverse dimension of said ingot.

7 i a 8 4. An ingot according to claim 3 in which at least one 2,119,112 1 5/1938 Mitchell 29-187 X nib is provided on either side of the outermost cavities 2,146,678 2/1939 Jung 29187 '5. An ingot according to claim 3 in which said ingots 2,698,101 '12/ 1954 Brown 29 187 X have a strapping indentation in at least one end wall. 3,017,042 7 1/1962 Bertram et a1 29 1-87 X 6. An ingot according to claim 5 in which strapping in- 5 3,100,142 8/ 1963 English et' al'. I 29-187 dentations are provided in both end walls on said ingot. 3,352,648 11/ 1967 Harper et al. -29--187 7. An ingot according to claim 1 which weighs ap- 1 1 proximately 30 pounds. FOREIGN PATENTS 8. An ingot according to claim 1 which weighs approxi- 770,793 3 1957 Great Britain 29 1g7 mately 50 pounds. 10 1 Y References Cited WINSTON A. DOUGLAS, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 0, F. CRUTCHFIELD, Assistant Examiner 1,501,387 7/1924 Zenke D547 X t 1,661,039 2/1928 Gathmann 249- 174 I 1,815,186 7/1931 Coles 164-47 15 21410'.5;206-65;16447 

